When Do You Need What for a New Chameleon?

[watermelonman]

Thanks, trully all info is gold. Is repashy only readily available online? And thanks for closure on his movements. Ill look around for vids of baby veileds or post one of my own and see what people say. At what age will feeders like dubia roaches and hornworms be an option. His mouth seems to small for anything but small crickets

 

[sdheli420]

Thanks, trully all info is gold. Is repashy only readily available online? And thanks for closure on his movements. Ill look around for vids of baby veileds or post one of my own and see what people say. At what age will feeders like dubia roaches and hornworms be an option. His mouth seems to small for anything but small crickets

the swaying is just what they do to act like they are moving with the wind(even when there is no wind)as for feeders, you can find dubias pretty small but you will most likley just need to wait a few months..as for horn worms, they grow like they are on steriods( in about 4 weeks they can reach full size, witch would be bigger than your cham, lolbut if you could get eggs and feed off hatchers that would work), another good choise is baby silk worms, they grow slower, and the babies stay smaller for longer than the horn worms..

 

[Texas Ranger]

Wow it sounds like you are getting riped off. Karma.....if you are spending thousands of dollars on your cham. also fecal test are not a 100 dollars unless you have a vet that is riping you off. Now to the OP of this thread there are some people that run there mouth and talk way beyond them means on here some times. If you have a cham now that is fine you will need suppliments for your cham and the right houseing and lighting and a hand mister or auto mister. Cham keeping does not have to cost a lot of money I know.... as long as you do the right research on here and you are a handy person you can have and owen a cham for almost nothing. anything you would like to know will be on this fourm you may have to search for some of your info and some you will just have to ask. But you do not have to give you cham back immediately if you are tight on money. that is so mean for some one to post that on a forum that is ment to help.

If you are tight on money DO NOT get a chameleon, give it back immediately. They are very expensive exotic animals, between their enclosures, lights, suppliments, and food it can be hundreds to thousands of dollars. What type of chameleon is it? You'll need a small mesh cage to start, then a large one as it grows, as an adult probably a 2x2x4 mesh. You'll need a reptisun 5.0 UVB light (30ish bucks right there) a basking light (which can get expensive since you replace the UVB every 6 months), crickets for the larger ones are 15 ish a day as adults, or dubia roaches, you'll need to mist EVERY day, 3 times a day ish, for 2 mins at a time, the entire cage, you'll need to buy specific plants that are safe for the chameleon, ALOT of plants are needed, you need suppliments, calcium without d3 everyday, you lightly dust the bug, (expensive, since you have to buy it online), calcium with d3 2x a month, and multivitamins 2x a month, (another 30ish dollars just for a small container), the enclosure itself can be 100 bucks or more, the fecal exams are 100+, not to mention vet visits incase it gets sick. No substrate, use paper towels at the bottom. I'm sure people are linking you with things as we speak.

 

[watermelonman]

Yeah id have to agree, encouragement is always more helpful.

 

[Texas Ranger]

Thanks, trully all info is gold. Is repashy only readily available online? And thanks for closure on his movements. Ill look around for vids of baby veileds or post one of my own and see what people say. At what age will feeders like dubia roaches and hornworms be an option. His mouth seems to small for anything but small crickets

There are a lot of feeders you can get for you cham at that size thats the fun part also yeah the repashy is mostly online. but is good stuff

 

[watermelonman]

Its really just the excessive italics like saying things like you do this. As a general rule no finger pointing people you dont know

 

[Hoj]

If you are tight on money DO NOT get a chameleon, give it back immediately. They are very expensive exotic animals, between their enclosures, lights, suppliments, and food it can be hundreds to thousands of dollars. What type of chameleon is it? You'll need a small mesh cage to start, then a large one as it grows, as an adult probably a 2x2x4 mesh. You'll need a reptisun 5.0 UVB light (30ish bucks right there) a basking light (which can get expensive since you replace the UVB every 6 months), crickets for the larger ones are 15 ish a day as adults, or dubia roaches, you'll need to mist EVERY day, 3 times a day ish, for 2 mins at a time, the entire cage, you'll need to buy specific plants that are safe for the chameleon, ALOT of plants are needed, you need suppliments, calcium without d3 everyday, you lightly dust the bug, (expensive, since you have to buy it online), calcium with d3 2x a month, and multivitamins 2x a month, (another 30ish dollars just for a small container), the enclosure itself can be 100 bucks or more, the fecal exams are 100+, not to mention vet visits incase it gets sick. No substrate, use paper towels at the bottom. I'm sure people are linking you with things as we speak.

this is a little dramatic, try not to scare people, and PLEASE!!! stop telling people to use PAPERTOWEL it is NO good. i have seen them eat on numerous occasions and it is definatly worse than a lil dirt in the mouth.
jmo
hoj

 

[Olimpia]

I have a blog that more or less lists just about everything you could need for a chameleon, with rough prices, and where to get them cheaply. If you are handy, like others have said, things like the cage can be made by you for a lot less (I have a 5'x4'x3' cage that I build for all of like $42): https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/olimpia/522-average-cost-owning-chameleon.html

Finding stuff online or at hardware/dollar stores can often times save you a lot of money. It's a myth that everything needs to be reptile-specific to work for reptiles - really, stuff like light fixtures, bulbs, etc. can all be gotten for much less at any home improvement site. With the exception of supplements and the UVB light, just about everything else can be acquired cheaply at other stores.

 

[Olimpia]

You will spend thousands if have several (I spent close to $1,000 in the last year on vet bills alone for my guys, but I've had a lot of freak accidents that required surgery, like the girl that swallowed her own tongue) but it's really hard to do short term on a single animal. I certainly don't spend hundreds on the 2-3 I have now a month, maybe close to $50 for insects, gutloading, etc. And this figure goes down as I breed more of my own insects and such. So there are tricks to the trade.

It's certainly not as cheap as a beta fish, for sure. But not like owning a horse either.

 

[watermelonman]

Thanks, ill be planning a pretty attractive and functional over the next month. Also go blackhawks

 

[Solid Snake]

On feeders, I recently started keeping dubia, and the nymphs are pretty small, my 3month old panther loves them! I recomend them over crickets in all aspects, cleaner, easier to breed, they don't hop, make noise, or climb and they are healthier for the animal. I still do the crickets, and hornworms for variety, as well as wild moths, mantids, and flies. Like everyone has said, the more creative you are, the cheaper it will be, especially if you are a do it yourselfer, I purchased a $100 DIY 2x2x4 cage for my first cham, that I really like and recomend, but I recently built a 31"x31x50" screen cage, that's almost dead on to the DIY that cost me roughly 70 bucks. All the care info can be a lot to take in at once, but if you do research everyday, and take it seriously, you'll do fine...

 

[watermelonman]

thank you for the encouragement. i plan on starting a small colony of dubia soon and im ordering some products from Repashy to ensure proper nourishment

 

[djfishygillz]

Olimpia thanks!

I have a blog that more or less lists just about everything you could need for a chameleon, with rough prices, and where to get them cheaply. If you are handy, like others have said, things like the cage can be made by you for a lot less (I have a 5'x4'x3' cage that I build for all of like $42): https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/olimpia/522-average-cost-owning-chameleon.html

Finding stuff online or at hardware/dollar stores can often times save you a lot of money. It's a myth that everything needs to be reptile-specific to work for reptiles - really, stuff like light fixtures, bulbs, etc. can all be gotten for much less at any home improvement site. With the exception of supplements and the UVB light, just about everything else can be acquired cheaply at other stores.

Thanks Olimpia for being logical and calm and not scaring off new people on the forum!!!